In many fields of endeavor it is important to determine the orientation of a surface with respect to a tool, especially in the field of automated assembly and testing. For instance, certain materials inspection using eddy current techniques require that the eddy current probe be oriented very normal to the inspected part. An industrial robot or numerically controlled machine may have difficulty maintaining the required normal orientation over an entire surface, especially where contours are involved. A jig may be employed to maintain normal orientation, but contacting the surface is not desirable in certain instances. Contacting methods must address wear issues and eddy current signal degradation due to mechanical vibration and heating. Noncontacting methods alleviate these problems. Existing noncontacting methods suffer from poor positional accuracy and such methods as air bearing probes, although providing accurate liftoff (probe to surface distance)compensation, do not guarantee normality and are limited in their surface (geometric) application.